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Thursday, November 20, 2014

Raymond's letter to The New Paper: BUSES STOPPING FAR AWAY FROM KERB -Risk of elderly falling is higher

My letter to The New Paper on the above subject is
published today, Thursday 20th November 2014 on page 17.

Senior
Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo has announced that the Government
is studying ways to make transport facilities more elderly-friendly as reported
in “Better public transport for elderly: Minister” (The New Paper, Nov 17).

With
the Land Transport Authority (LTA) holding focus group discussions with the
elderly, our seniors can look forward to improvements in transport facilities
that include more sheltered walkways and added lifts to overheads bridges, as
many in this group find it difficult to climb staircases due to mobility
issues.

But
the LTA must also advise the public transport operators to stop their buses
closer to the kerbs at bus stops, as very often, they do so a fair distance from
the kerbs. For the elderly, this poses a risk of them losing their balance and
falling down.Many of these seniors make
use of quad sticks to help them move about and with the buses picking and
letting passengers alight a fair distance from the kerb, chances are that
accidents can take place more easily.

For
a person with mobility issues, going up the bus or coming down when the bus
stops far from the kerb is a real challenge.